Take more migrants or they will 'come through the window' says EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker

Britain could be forced to take a set of numbers of refugees from Africa to deal with the escalating migration crisis, the head of the European Commission has said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission’s president, suggested that unless Europe’s leaders decided to “open the door” the migrants could try to "break in through the window”.

Nigel Farage, the UK Independence Party leader, suggested it might to hundreds of thousands of migrants, some of whom could be Jihadists, being given the right to settle in the UK.

Mr Juncker suggested a binding quota for taking in refugees across all 28 EU member countries during a debate in the European Parliament.

He said: “I will appeal… for the establishment of a quota system. We must distribute refugees throughout the whole of Europe.”

“In the medium term, legal migration must be on the agenda,” Mr Juncker said.

Mr Juncker calls on member states to take in not just people needing protection, but also a limited number of people wanting to come to Europe and seek work.

“If we don’t open the door, even partly, you can’t act surprised when the unfortunate from across the planet break in through the window.”

The commission is now due to unveil a comprehensive migration strategy in mid-May.

MEPs passed a vote to develop a common migration policy across all 28 member states.

Mr Farage broke off from campaiging in the general election to speak in the European Parliament where MEPs were debating a four-point action plan to help deal with the crisis.

Mr Farage told MEPs he was worried that the system could include not just those fleeing war and failed states but also economic migrants.

He said: “I suspect that it’s a shock and would be a hell of a shock to many European citizens including the British to understand that we have already agreed a common European asylum system.

“What today is about and today's resolution is the direct implementation of it.

“The problem is this: the definitions for who qualifies for asylum are so wide they include not just people coming from war, not just people coming from failed states, Juncker this morning seems to suggest it would even include people who were fleeing poverty.

“I’m sorry, we simply can’t accept countless millions. Already in countries like mine 77 per cent of the population say we cannot take immigration at current levels.

“But there is a real and genuine threat. When Isis say they want to flood our continent with half a million Islamic extremists, they mean it.

“There is nothing in this document that will stop those people from coming.

“Indeed I fear we face a direct threat to our civilisation if we allow large numbers of people from that war-torn region into Europe.”

He said Britain was “impotent, we have surrendered our ability to get involved. I promise my party will stand up to this impending disaster for all concerned.”

Mr Farage later disclosed that Mr Juncker had given him a good luck message from Mr Juncker.

Mr Farage said Mr Juncker told him: “Good luck to you on a personal level. I very much hope you win, it means we won’t see you here again."